1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication apparatus capable of being connected to a communication line through which calling party information comes at the time of termination.
2. Description of the Related Art
Previously, with regard to a communication apparatus capable of being connected to a communication line through which calling party information comes at the time of termination, such an apparatus has been proposed as is capable of unconditionally storing calling party information at the time of termination in order to create an incoming call history, and displaying the incoming call history, and capable of performing automatic dialing origination to a desired originator by designating desired calling party information in the displayed incoming call history and giving a direction to perform origination.
As an example of such a communication apparatus, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 9-238183 (1997) is known, disclosing a telephone set which is capable of creating an incoming call history. In the telephone set, telephone numbers and names are associated with each other and registered in a telephone directory memory area in advance. At the time of termination, the telephone set detects a calling party telephone number which is calling party information coming through a line network, and causes an incoming call history memory area to store the telephone number. Further, the telephone set retrieves whether or not the detected telephone number is coincident with any of the telephone numbers stored in the telephone directory memory area. In the case where a telephone number coincident with the detected telephone number is in existence, the telephone set reads name data corresponding to the telephone number out of the telephone directory memory area, associates the detected telephone number with the name data, and causes the incoming call history memory area to store them.
However, an apparatus which unconditionally stores calling party information at the time of termination, such as the existing communication apparatus as described above, stores even calling party information by which an originator cannot be defined, such as information in the case of nonnotification of calling party""s telephone number and calling party information from a public telephone, and calling party information which may be received but would not be sent out, such as information regarding termination for downloading LCR data. It causes a problem that meaningless calling party information is displayed at the time of displaying the incoming call history and thereby the user is bothered. Particularly in the case where calling party information which may be received but would not be sent out, such as termination for downloading LCR data, is stored, automatic dialing origination might be performed for the purpose of confirming an originator at the time of displaying the incoming call history. It causes a problem that a communication charge is wasted in performing automatic dialing origination.
An object of the invention is to provide a communication apparatus which is capable of performing display of incoming call history, performing automatic dialing origination by using the display of incoming call history, or the like, without bothering the user.
In order to achieve the object mentioned above, the invention provides a communication apparatus capable of being connected to a communication line through which calling party information comes at the time of termination, the communication apparatus comprising:
calling party information receiving means for receiving calling party information which comes through the communication line;
first storing means for storing the calling party information received by the calling party information receiving means;
second storing means for storing specific calling party information; and
controlling means for, when the calling party information received by the calling party information receiving means is coincident with the calling party information stored in the second storing means, controlling so that the received calling party information is not stored in the first storing means.
According to the invention, when calling party information is received by the calling party information receiving means, the controlling means judges whether or not calling party information coincident with the received calling party information is stored in the second storing means, and only when it is judged that coincident calling party information is not stored, the received calling party information is stored in the first storing means, whereby it is possible to prevent specific calling party information from being stored in the first storing means. In this way, the communication apparatus is capable of storing calling party information except specific calling party information of all the calling party information received at the time of termination, so that the communication apparatus is capable of performing functions of display of incoming call history by using the calling party information stored in the first storing means, automatic dialing origination by using the display of incoming call history, or the like, without bothering the user.
In addition to the configuration of the invention described above, it is preferable that the communication apparatus of the invention further comprises operating means for inputting and erasing calling party information, and based on a direction from the operating means, the controlling means stores the calling party information in the second storing means or erases the calling party information stored in the second storing means.
According to the invention, when the user gives a direction through the operating means to input or erase calling party information, the controlling means stores the calling party information in the second storing means or erases the calling party information stored in the second storing means based on the direction, whereby the user is capable of voluntarily setting specific calling party information which should not be stored in the first storing means. In this way, the user is capable of voluntarily setting specific calling party information, so that it is possible to make it easier to use the functions of display of incoming call history and performing automatic dialing origination by using the display of incoming call history in the communication apparatus.
In addition to the configuration of the invention described above, it is preferable that the second storing means is composed of an erasable area in which it is possible to erase calling party information based on an operation of the operating means and an unerasable area in which it is impossible to erase calling party information based on an operation of the operating means.
According to the invention, when a direction to erase calling party information is given by the operating means, the controlling means erases the calling party information stored in the erasable area of the second storing means based on the direction. In this way, the communication apparatus is capable of not only enabling the user to voluntarily set specific calling party information which should not be stored in the first storing means, but also preventing necessary specific calling party information from being erased by mistake.
As a result, the communication apparatus is capable of preventing operability from being degraded as a result of making it easier to use the functions of display of incoming call history, automatic dialing origination by using the display of incoming call history, or the like.
In addition to the configuration of the invention described above, it is preferable that also when the calling party information stored in the first storing means is coincident with the calling party information received by the calling party information receiving means, the controlling means controls so that the received calling party information is not stored in the first storing means.
According to the invention, when calling party information is received by the calling party information receiving means, the controlling means judges whether or not calling party information coincident with the received calling party information is stored in the first and second storing means, and only when it is judged that coincident calling party information is not stored, the received calling party information is stored in the first storing means. In this way, the communication apparatus is capable of not only controlling so that specific calling party information is not stored in the first storing means, but also preventing calling party information from being duplicately stored in the first storing means. As a result, the communication apparatus is capable of storing calling party information except specific calling party information and calling party information having already been stored of all the calling party information received at the time of termination, so that the communication apparatus is capable of performing the functions of automatic dialing origination by using the stored calling party information, or the like, while further preventing the user from being bothered.
In addition to the configuration of the invention described above, it is preferable that the communication apparatus of the invention further comprises voice information converting means for converting information which can be stored in the first storing means, into voice signals, and in the case where a preset signal comes through the communication line, the controlling means causes the voice information converting means to convert the information stored in the first storing means, into voice signals to send out the voice signals to the communication line.
According to the invention, in the case where the preset signal comes through the communication line, the controlling means causes the voice information converting means to convert the calling party information stored in the first storing means, into voice signals to send out the voice signals to the communication line. As a result, the user can obtain the calling party information which is stored as an incoming call history, by voice away from home. Moreover, in the communication apparatus of the invention, the calling party information which may be received but would not be sent out is not stored in the first storing means. Therefore, in the case where the user obtains calling party information by voice away from home, meaningless calling party information would not be converted into voice signals and sent out, and hence it is possible to shorten the period of time for listening to calling party information and reduce a communication charge. In addition, since it is prevented that calling party information is duplicately stored in the first storing means, single calling party information would not be converted into voice signals and sent out twice or more in the case where the user obtains calling party information by voice away from home, with the result that it is possible to further shorten the period of time for listening to calling party information and further reduce a communication charge.